12 September 2006

testing the boundaries

Wow - we must be getting into the swing of this parenthood thing for now*.

On Friday I went out with another mum and it was the FIRST TIME I have been away from E-chan for more than about an hour. Yep - I nipped away once to have my hair cut, and another time for an appointment regarding my post-natal gumpy leg (which is fine now, thanks). And a few short trips to the shop for milk or take-away. The rest of the time, he has been sleeping only metres away from me in his cot or in the pram. So how did it go? OK. I missed him a bit, but knew he was in C-chan's capable hands. Luckily, just about everyone I was with had at least one child, and it was a sympathetic environment to be in. So it seems I can have the odd night out without baby for now*.

On top of that, we completed E-chan's transition from bassinet to cot (he was waking up headbutting the end of the bassinet sometimes, which was worrying us given babies generally have no skull at the top of their heads for the first year of life). We moved his room around to improve the layout somewhat. He seems to love his cot for now*!!

We also cleaned out the flat, vacuumed, washed, cooked AND we entertained! Dr J and Angel were brave enough to be dinner guests given the potential for screaming baby, however, E-chan was contented it seems and just fed and slept after 8:30 or so, and goo'd and gaa'd for the rest of the time they were over. So it seems we can entertain at home for now*.

We also made it out to Parramatta way for a BBQ a few weeks back which indicates slightly longer trips out to visit friends is managable for now*.

Today, for our biggest challenge yet, we'll go to a mums and bubs session at the movies. Not sure how E-chan will manage, as he can be one of the squirmiest babies I know when awake. Wish us luck...


* nb always insert "for now" as disclaimer, as babies seem to change habits just as you are working out what their routines are...

3 comments:

Mermaidgrrrl said...

Does this mean my fantasy that they just fit in around your pre-existing life without a murmur of complaint isn't true? Buggar!

Anonymous said...

Hmmmm. I'll get back to you on that. I suspect everything changes once they are crawling or walking, but for now, it's pretty much sling them in your baby carrier and off you go!! Except late nights are a no-no, and you have to plan ahead to have somewhere to change nappies and feed (esp if it's raining) and pram space. Lack of public baby change/nursing rooms can limit you to within a 1km radius of shopping centres.
Movies went well by the way, had E-chan sleeping beside me on the seat by the end!! He was a little distracted by the flashing screen and noise during his feed, and we stood up at the back of the cinema for a little bit of jiggling and rocking, but other than that, it was great, and I saw much of the film.

J said...

That's cool, I wondered whether you'd head to the mums sessions at the cinema near you as I'd noticed them advertised. Great that it worked so well. As babybro got a bit bigger mum got a lot more relaxed about the whole changing in public thing and became a dab hand at just whipping off a wet nappy and replacing while they were in the car, at a cafe, whatever. Took just seconds and I reckon no-one would have even reallly noticed. I think when he was able to stand up that was easier.